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Law Enforcement And Punishment In The 1800's Analysis

625 Words3 Pages

Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” asks many questions about the credibility of law enforcement and punishment in the 1800’s, such as: “when and why was the death penalty used”, “what kind of law enforcement was used”, and “why were women criminals presumed to be insane”. Justine Moritz, the Frankenstein’s house servant is charged and executed for the murder of William Frankenstein, but when Victor is accused of murdering Henry Clerval, an old friend, he is acquitted. Crime and law enforcement in the 1800’s was unpredictable, with people getting charged for the wrong crime or criminals not getting charged at all.

Up until 1850, New York City had no official police. When politicians did get around to organizing law enforcement, they actually created two different groups— one called Metropolitans, and the other called Municipals. Citizens recognized the city police by their copper badges. The two rival police forces battled against one another, sometimes freeing criminals imprisoned by the opposing force (McIntosh, 160). The rift between the two corrupted police organizations eventually led to The Great New York Police Riot in 1857. These riots led to a lot of death and in the fall of 1857, the Municipal police was eradicated from the city. …show more content…

After the riots that formed due to corruption by two separate law organizations, citizens and law officers began to reevaluate the system, by eliminating the revenge and disincentives between the officers. Correction Centers with the purpose of remodeling criminals began to pop up in the early 1800’s in the United States. Penitentiaries and asylums were a form of imprisonment for criminals and the mentally ill. Many of these institutions were dirty and crowded and were being reformed to fit the mentally ill’s

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One woman is described as, “clinging to or beating upon the bars of her caged apartment... unwashed [body] invested with fragments of unclean garments... irritation of body produced by utter filth an exposure incited her to t he horrid process of tearing off her skin by inches,”(Dix 5). Dix also describes how cages were a commonplace within almshouses by stating, “Hardly a town but can refer to some not distant period of using [cages],”(Dix 4). In this manner, Dix is imploring the Massachusetts Legislature to take immediate action. By describing these wretched conditions, Dix gives evidence and reason for reformation. The indecent livelihood of the mentally ill brought to the surface by Dix brings to question the effectiveness of the current prison system in Massachusetts.

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1186 Words | 5 Pages

Halfway through the 18th century, the United States was serving as a model for prisons. Dix was revolutionary in reforming prisons. She convinced states to invest in libraries, basic education, and more care for the men, women, and even children imprisoned in the jails and penitentiaries whereas abuse regularly occurred (Parry). Pennsylvania was a key role model for prisons all over the United States. This state’s prisons were known for having “two of the best prisons in the world” (“Prison and Asylum

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581 Words | 3 Pages

There were many stories told about outlaws and lawmen during the 1800s in America, and many of them originated from the “Wild West.” There have been stories and legends about people who robbed banks, committed homicide, or threw wanted criminals in jail. Often, people would stretch the truth of what westerners actually did, to make their tale more compelling. The same goes for a popular stagecoach driver of the mid 1800s, a man named Charley Parkhurst, who is best known for being a woman disguised as a man.

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Summary: The prison reform movement was a generally successful movement led by Dorothea Dix in the mid-1800’s. This movement sought to reform the poor conditions of prisons and establish separate hospitals for the mentally insane. In this article written by Dorothea Dix, directly addresses the general assembly of North Carolina, she explains the lack of care for the mentally insane and the necessary care for them. In the section regarding the jails, she talks about how the insane are locked up because they pose of a threat to the public’s safety not confined somewhere. Also, they are stationed in small cells chained up which is torturing them, and only the rich can afford to be sent to hospitals where they take much better care of.

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Inmate power was accommodated by the prison’s administration directly through programs and indirectly through tolerance of illegal activities. Prior to the riot, the programs enhanced chances of parole, which led to increased participation. They were also crucial to “self-policing” process within the inmate environment. However, the prison also faced high levels of illegal drug trafficking within the prison.

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958 Words | 4 Pages

In contrast to the Political Era, this era held many changed that were in great contrast. Firstly, the police found it more productive to be more distant to the folks around them and held the persona of an uncaring stranger that was very unapproachable. With the changes in technology, officers were now able to utilize vehicles to cut their response times in half. Aside from the lessening in social interactions officers were avoiding, they became more professional with the advanced training, pay and new scientific methods which helped in crime solving. So, even though the community felt more distant to the police, they were being trained much better than the previous years to better serve their

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416 Words | 2 Pages

Policing has been around a long time, ever since the 19th century to be more specific. In that span of time between the 19th century and today, policing has gone through many changes, to lead us to the state of policing we are in today, which is now a complete 180 from how it used to be. Way back when the first settlers came to America, communities actually policed themselves. They believed that this was the most effective way to uphold the law, or whatever they called it back then. They had many ways to keep people in line such as public disapproval, shunning, and even public humiliation.

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626 Words | 3 Pages

Asylums for the “Insane” In the 1830’s to 1840’s there was a pursuit by activists to reconstruct the penal system in the United States. These activists advocated for prison reform towards the treatment of incarcerated poor and mentally insane populations. During this time, prisons were used to contain criminals as well as certain Americans deemed undesirable members of society. The prison reform activist believe there should be some type of instructional rehabilitation offered to the prisoners instead of confinement.

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During this time period, there was a large controversy over the purpose of prison – was it for punishment or atonement? After the war of 1812, there was a small campaign to put children who had committed crimes in juvenile detention centers rather than jails. However, that was not the biggest reform movement directed at the prison system at the time. Dorothea Dix and several others, including Francis Lieber and Samuel Gridley Howe, began to take action and revise the American Prison System. Their goal was simple: to transform prisons into ones that reformed rather than incarcerated their inmates (Faragher 440).

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Since the 1800’s many things have changed things including the way people lived in the jail,the court and the capital,and torture. Torture has changed in many ways including how you were toured and why you were tortured. Also the the court systems were starting to change which led them to go downhill. With all the changes riots began to happen which led to people being sent to a broken jail system.

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1621 Words | 7 Pages

Before the reform, punishments for crimes were harsh and unfair. Crimes as small as stealing a rabbit, being sneaky in the dark, and cutting down a tree could get someone sent to Australia, branded, whipped, put in the stocks, or even sentenced to death, no matter their age or gender. Prisons were meant to be places where criminals were put for short periods of time, usually until their trial or until they paid their taxes or loans. However, over time, people started saying that the death sentence was highly unethical and not good for children, who would watch these public executions, and started petitioning for a change. Prisons started being built with the intent of reforming prisoners by keeping them isolated and doing physical labor, giving them more time to reflect on themselves.

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766 Words | 4 Pages

First you hate them, then you get used to them. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That 's institutionalized.’ A prison should aim at retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation. I am very well convinced that prison has served its first three purposes by depriving offenders’ freedom, but the

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Crime and Punishment in Colonial America In Colonial America, crime and punishment was a new idea that was just started to be formed. During this time, they had a different set of rules and regulations that had to be followed in their towns and states. For each town, or even state, they had their own rules to follow, based on the men in charge during this time. They had punishments that would not be allowed during this day and age because they were inhumane and unlawful. Crime and punishment are what kept everyone in line; they were rules and regulations that everyone had to follow, no matter who you were or how much money you had.

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The third point that I have is.” Between 1700s and 1900s a system for Milyer to our eyes emerged as a result of important changes and substantive law procedure, punishment and prosecution. ”(Harvey). This shows the advances and equipment to keep up with the criminals who were breaking the law daily. It also helped catch the things that might slide by a normal officer.

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V. PRISON REFORMS The main part of this research paper is the reforms for the conditions of prison and make prison a better place for prisoner and make an alternative for incarceration. The prison Reform for prevention of overcrowding in prisons: A ten-point method for reducing the overcrowding in the prisons all over the world, these points are1: 1. Collect and use data to inform a rational, humane and cost-effective use of prison.

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